Neymar set to be benched in Brazil's opening game against Switzerland

Brazil will kick off their world cup campaign against Switzerland later tonight.

After yesterday’s disappointing draw, Argentina have kicked off their world cup campaign on a wrong note, especially when Lionel Messi missed a crucial penalty. Their South American neighbours, Brazil though will look to start with a win when they take on Switzerland in a Group E clash.

Brazil faced no problems in their CONMEBOL qualifiers. The Samba boys led by manager Tite steamrolled their counterparts to reach the World Cup finals.

Switzerland, on the other hand, had to wait for some more time to qualify for the World Cup finals. The Swiss had to go through the knockout phase, with a decider against Northern Ireland, one which they nervily won 1-0 over two legs.

Brazil’s warm-up games were comfortable with wins over Croatia and Austria. Switzerland, on the other hand, drew against Spain before recording a quickfire 2-0 win over Japan.

Recent Form

Brazil: WDWWWW

Brazil enter the tournament in fantastic form. During that winning run, they managed to beat fellow tournament favourites Germany 1-0 and managed to hold England to a goalless draw.

They also maintained their form in the warm-ups leading to the World Cup, beating Croatia 2-0 and Austria 3-0. However, Brazil’s manager Tite stated that Neymar isn’t fully fit, which casts a shadow over his inclusion in the starting XI. However, Tite also said that Neymar will play ‘some role’ in the game.

Switzerland – WDWWDW

The Swiss too enter into the tournament in good form. That run includes a 6-0 thrashing of Panama and a nervy 1-0 two legged win over N.Ireland to qualify for the world cup.

They held Spain to a 1-1 draw in the first warm-up, and beat Japan 2-0 in the final game before the World Cup.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Brazil and Switzerland have previously met 3 times, with both of them recording a win each. Their most recent meeting ended in a 1-0 win for Switzerland.